Thunderstorms To Continue Off-And-On All Day
UPDATED 06/20/11 12:21 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Booming claps of thunder took the place of the alarm clock for many Chicagoans Monday morning, and the storms are expected to continue off and on all day.
As of 11 a.m., there was a break in the active weather for most of the Chicago area, but it wasn't expected to last. CBS 2 Meteorologist Megan Glaros reports a new round of showers and storms are soon to come, and were sweeping over the Peoria area as of 11 a.m.
Earlier in the morning, some counties south of Chicago were placed under a severe thunderstorm warning. That warning expired several hours ago, but a flood advisory remains in effect until 12:30 p.m. for several area counties, including Kendall, Will, LaSalle, Grundy and Kankakee.
The towns of Ottawa and Streator have been experiencing low-lying flooding on their roadways.
In addition to the coming midday rain, more storms are expected in the late afternoon and evening Monday, Glaros reported.
Not long after sunrise Monday, torrential rain fell in downtown Chicago, peppered with furious bolts of lightning and booming thunderclaps.
The morning storms knocked out power to more than 16,700 customers Monday morning. By 11 a.m., about 4,900 of those remained without power, including 560 in the Frankfort Township area, according to Alicia Zatkowski of ComEd.
"We already restoring power and hope to get all customers back as soon as possible," she said.
The lightning also caused localized damage.
In Oak Forest, no one was injured when lightning stuck the roof peak of a home on the 15000 block of Landings Lane in around 6:30 a.m., according to Deputy Chief Charlie Sopko. But the strike left a small hole in the roof of the home, but did not spark a fire, he said.
At 9:45 a.m. Monday, motorists faced a mile-long backup on Harlem Avenue in Orland Park. A failed traffic signal at 143rd Street and Harlem had the northbound lanes of Harlem Avenue backed up to nearly 151st Street.
The temperature Monday was expected to top out at 83 degrees with muggy conditions, with cooler temperatures by the lake. The chance of storms later in the day is 70 percent.
More storms are expected on Tuesday and Wednesday.
